Document Type
Article
Date
11-8-2005
Keywords
C. elegans, EGO-1, Heterochromatin assembly, Meiosis
Language
English
Disciplines
Biology
Description/Abstract
During meiosis in C. elegans, unpaired chromosomes and chromosomal regions accumulate high levels of histone H3 lysine 9 dimethylation (H3K9me2), a modification associated with facultative heterochromatin assembly and the resulting transcriptional silencing [1, 2]. Meiotic silencing of unpaired DNA may be a widely conserved genome defense mechanism [3–5]. The mechanisms of meiotic silencing remain unclear, although both transcriptional and posttranscriptional processes are implicated [3–5]. Cellular RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRPs) function in development and RNA-mediated silencing in many species [3, 6, 7] and in heterochromatin assembly in S. pombe [3, 8]. There are four C. elegans RdRPs, including two with known germline functions. EGO-1 is required for fertility and robust germline RNAi [9–11]. RRF-3 acts genetically to repress RNAi and is required for normal meiosis and spermatogenesis at elevated temperatures [12] (S. L’Hernault, personal communication). Among C. elegans RdRPs, we find that only EGO-1 is required for H3K9me2 enrichment on unpaired chromosomal regions during meiosis. This H3K9me2 enrichment does not require Dicer or Drosha nuclease or any of several other proteins required for RNAi. ego-1 interacts genetically with him-17, another regulator of chromatin and meiosis [13], to promote germline development. We conclude that EGO-1 is an essential component of meiotic silencing in C. elegans.
Recommended Citation
Maine, Eleanor M.; Hauth, Jessica; Ratliff, Thomas; Vought, Valarie E.; She, Xingyu; and Kelly, William G., "EGO-1, a Putative RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase, Is Required for Heterochromatin Assembly on Unpaired DNA during C. elegans Meiosis" (2005). Biology - All Scholarship. 1.
https://surface.syr.edu/bio/1
Source
Local input
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
